Card pairing device



H. w. BRYCE CARD PAIRING mvIcE Filed May 13. 19:50

Ap' 1o, "1934..

2 snets-sneet 1 Ap 10, 1934. H. w. BRYCE CARD PAIRING DEVICE Filed May 13 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 I UNITED STATES PATENTA OFFICE v 1,954,038 CARD mimmo DEVICE poration of New York Application May 13, 1930, Serial No. 451,939 Claims. (Cl. 209-110) This invention relates to machines adapted to sort record cards used in tabulating systems such as the well known Hollerith system.

Such systems commonly employ record cards 5 in which the character of the information recorded is indicated by means of index points or data designations consisting of perforations made in vertical columns, certain columns or groups of columns being used to record classification num- 0 bers, dates, quantities, amounts or other data as desired, according to the purpose for which the record cards are intended.

'I'he present invention has particular reference to an improved means for comparing successive pairs of record cards in a series being fed through a tabulating machine of the character described for the purpose of separating related pairs of record cards from unrelated cards. Heretofore means have been provided for comparing successive cards in corresponding columns or fields upon the record cards with the object of diverting the related pairs of cards to a common receiving station without affecting the normal progress of unrelated cards through the tabulatlng machine. Such a machine is described in Letters Patent No. 1,664,533, granted April 3, 1928 to Hermann Weinlich in which is illustrated one manner in which the desired results may be obtained. The present invention contemplates the comparing of the data designations on successive cards in different columns and itis believed that the principle involved in the present invention is broadly new. 'Therefore, while the embodiment of the invention described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings has been applied to a well known sorting machine, it is not desired to limit the scope of the invention to a sorting machine alone as it is capable of application to a tabulating machine as well.

40 It frequently happens in the conduct of business operations that it is necessary to record substantially identical data on duplicate record cards, the duplicate of which may be made out simultaneously with the original or at a dierent time after certain events or operations have taken place. Afterwards it becomes necessary to match the duplicate cards and separate the single unmatched cards therefrom in order to arrange the single cards in one group and the matched cards in another group. The process of matching the cards manually involves considerable labor and is very time consuming when large numbers of cards are being handled. The foregoing will be better understood by a referenceto a specific example.

Oil, gasoline and like liquids are frequently shipped to the consumer in steel barrels, or drums, as they are called, and it is often desired to determine the number of drums which have not been returned empty. At the time the drums are shipped in a full condition a card is perforated for each drum to indicate desired data thereon such as code numbers representing nature of the contents, quantity, date shipped, customers account number or any other information, the card being filed away with similar cards for future reference. When such empty drum is returned a similar card is perforated with desired information thereon and it is then necessary to match this last card with the filed card and thereafter remove all record cards representing returned drums in order to determine the number of drums which have not been returned. The operation of manually matching or pairing the cards representing returned drums with the cards made when the drum was shipped full is a tedious and laborious task which is costly where there are large numbers of individual customers.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efficient arrangement of parts adapted to be used in connection with tabulating or sorting machines embodying the Hollerith principle which may be used to effect selection and segregation of paired cards from a large number of cards only a portion of which are paired, thereby enlarging the field of usefulness of such machines.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent after a study of the following specication and claims and the accompanying drawings which by way of illustration show what is at present considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In said drawings: A

Fig. lis a vertical section through a.V sorting machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view of a portion of a record card adapted to be used with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a detail view in elevation illustrating the arrangement of the auxiliary brush holder.

Fig.' 4 is a detail view in section of the auxiliary brush holder.

Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating the electrical connections of the present invention.

The invention for convenience in description has been shown attached to a sorting machine such as that shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,741,985, granted December 31, 1929, to which reference may be made for a more detailed description of the construction and operation of the machine, but for sake of completeness a brief description of the sorting machine will now be made before describing the present invention.

The numeral 10, Fig. 1, represents generally a magazine adapted to receive the cards 11 which are the well known perforated record cards used in the Hollerith or a similar system. The cards are retained in their proper position by vertically extending guides 12 attached to the main frame 13 of the machine and are advanced one at a time into a position to be gripped by the feed rollers 14 by means of a picker blade 15 carried by a reciprocating member 16 adapted to be reciprocated by an arm 17 connected with a crank pin 18 carried by a crank (not shown in the drawings) fast to the shaft 19. It will be clear that each revolution of shaft 19 will cause the arm 17 to be rocked to the left, (Fig. 1) and thereby move the member 16 so as to successively advance cards 11 toward the feed rollers 14 which thereafter grip the cards and feed them toward the left.

The feed rollers 14 brings each card fed by the member 16 into a position to be traversed or sensed by a brush 20 carried by a brush holder 21. The brush holder 21 is carried by and insulated from a carrier 22 which is adapted to be adjusted by means of a screw 23 extending crosswise of the machine and capable of being turned manually by means of a handle, not shown, so as to bring the brush 20 into a position to sweep over or sense any desired column on the card. The brush 20 is electrically connected to an insulated contact rail 24 extending beneath and parallel with the shaft 23, crosswise of the machine, a suitable spring actuated contact shoe 25 providing means for maintaining the circuit to the brush regardless of the column on the card with which the brush has been brought into cooperative relation.

The carrier 22 and the means for adjusting it to a desired column form no part of the present invention and have been only briefly mentioned herein. For a more detailed description, reference may be had to copending application, Serial No. 307,823, filed September 24, 1928, in the name of Eugene A. Ford, which also contains a description of the card feeding mechanism already described.

Before each card leaves the control of the feed rollers 14 it is gripped by the rollers 26 while other rollers 27 driven in unison with the feed rollers 14 and 26 serve to carry the shafts supporting all of these rollers and the shaft 19 being driven in unison by a common shaft, not shown, which is driven by a motor in a well known manner.

Each card, as it is swept or sensed by the brush 20, moves over a pair of plates 28 mounted in spaced relationship upon the main frame of the machine and the left edge, Fig. 1, of said card passes underneath the ends of guide blades 31 which lead to suitable receiving stations such as 32 adapted to receive cards having similar index perforations in the column swept by the brush 20. One of the receiving stations is commonlyknown in the art as the Reject station and receives all cards having no perforation in the column being sensed by the brush 20. The ends of the blades are substantially'narrowed or reduced in width at their right ends and are bent upwardly as at 33 to permit the cards to slide under the ends of the blades. Each end rests upon a narrow plate formed as part of a spring urged armature 34 which is pivoted on a knife the cards to the left,

edge formed in the upper edge of a plate 35 mounted upon the machine frame.

A -spring 36 normally holds the armature away from the poles of the magnets 37 so that the upturned ends 33 of blades 31 are presented to the edge of the card as it is advanced by the rolls 14 toward the left and from beneath the brush 20.

It will be clearly understood from the foregoing that the left edge of the card will pass beneath the upturned ends 33 of each of the blades 31 as the card is advanced to the left by the feed rollers and whenever the brush 20 encounters an index perforation in the column being sensed or analyzed the magnet 37 will be energized and the armature 34 attracted, thereby lowering all of the ends 33 which do not overlie the card. As a result the card analyzed will enter one of the spaces between the ends of the blades 31 and will thereafter be carried to the appropriate receiving station by the rolls 27 according to the position of the index point sensed by the brush 20. A contact roll 38 insulated from its supporting shaft 39 is provided and is driven in unison with the feed rollers.

All of the foregoing will be clearly understood by reference to Letters Patent No. 1,741,985, already mentioned, which gives a more detailed description of the construction and operation of the mechanism for diverting the card to the proper receiving station.

The general mechanical construction having been briefly described reference will now be made to Fig. 5 which illustrates diagrammatically the lectrical circuits involved in the present invenion.

The numeral 40 represents the motor driving the sorting machine and is started by depressing the key 4l and holding the key depressed until the passage of cards effects closure of the usual card contacts 42. Relays 43 in series with the starting key 41 and stop key 44 close contacts 45 and establish the circuit to the motor 40. A relay 46, in series with relays 43, establishes a connection to one of the card contacts 42 so that closure of thejcontacts 42 by the passage of cards under the brushes establishes a circuit around the start key 41 after the cards begin to pass the brushes so that the motor is maintained in operation as long as cards remain in the magazine 10. The foregoing is a well known circuit and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art and needs no further description herein.

The numeral 47 represents a commutator device similar to that described in Patent No. 1,741,985 and will be readily understood by reference to that patent. The numeral 48 represents a rotary contact which forms part of the commutator 47 and moves in unison therewith, the commutator being driven in synchronism with the feed rollers. The contacts 49 are timed so that each cornes under the brush 50 at the instant the brush 20 passes over the corresponding index point on the record card while the contact 48 is timed so that it bridges the brushes 51 during the time the brush 50 passes over the contacts 49 but holds the circuit open during the brief interval of time when no card is under the brush 20. It will be understood that when the brush 20 encounters a perforation in J[he 44th column, equivalent to a 0, the 0'commutator bar will be under the brush 50 and a circuit will be established from the left side of the line 52, the 0 commutator bar, brush 50, contact roll 38, brush 20, relay 53, magnet 37 and relay contacts 54, now closed, to the right side of theline 55.

Energization of relay 53' closes contacts 56 thereby establishing a circuit from left side of line 52, brushes 51, contact 48, relay contacts 56, magnet 37, and relay contacts 54 thus holding the magnet 37 energized until the card passes from under the brush 20, the contact 48 being timed so it breaks the circuit through the relay 53 just before the upper edge of the card leaves the brush 20. A card having no perforation in the 44th column will have no effect upon the circuit through brush 20 and therefore will not be diverted to one of the receiving stations represented by the numerals 0-12" but will go to the thirteenth or Reject receiving station.

Mounted upon the lowermost shaft 57 of the shafts carrying the feeding rollers 14 is a disc bearing, on the periphery thereof, an insulated contact 58 having a cut-away portion 59. A brush holder 60 carried by the side frame 61 supports a brush 62 which bears upon the continuous portion of the periphery of contact 58 and is positioned so it is adapted to sweep over and sense the 45th or last column (Fig. 2) of the card passing under the brush 62. A second brush holder 63 mounted upon the side frame beneath the shaft carries a brush 64 which bears on the periphery of the contact 58 so as to cooperate with the cut-away portion 59. It will be recalled that the shaft 57 carrying the feeding rollers 14 rotates in synchronism with the main drive shaft of the sorting machine and the cutaway portion 59 is timed so that the circuit through the brush 62 isbroken during the brief interval of time when no card is passing under the auxiliary brush 62. The auxiliary brush is so spaced with respect to the main brush 20 as toy complete the circuit through the auxiliary brush 62 slightly before the main brush 20 en,

counters a perforation in the 44th or next to the last column of the card for a purpose to be more clearly explained hereinafter.

The record cards perforated when the drum is shipped are provided with a perforation in the 0 index position of the next to the last or 44th column while cards representing a drum returned are perforated in the 9 index position of the last or 45th column. When a series of cards is being fed past the brushes 20, 62 and a card under the main brush 20 is followed by a related or paired card the main brush 20 will encounter the 0 perforation in the 44th column of the first of the two cards while the auxiliary brush 62 will encounter the perforation in the 45th column of the second card, the auxiliary brush 62 actually making contact slightly before the main brush makes contact as hereinbefore mentioned. With the foregoing borne in mind the following description of the operation will be more clearly understood:

It will be presumed that the cards have all been previously sorted in the ordinary way in order to arrange the cards in a desired predetermined order, the cards representing drums shipped being run through the sorting machine first so that after the cards representing returned drums have been placed in the magazine and sorted in the usual way the original card for a shipped drum will be found on top of the card representing the returned drum with unmatched single cards interspersed with the pairs. During the time the ordinary sorting operation is taking place a switch 65 is open thereby cutting the brush 62 out of circuit and rendering the circuits l for the pairing operation ineffective.

'I'he cards 11, after having been sorted in the ordinary way, are placed in the magazine 10 and the main brush 20 adjusted to sweep over the 44th column of the cards. The switch 65 is now closed and the starting key 41 held down until cards begin to pass the brush 20 after which closure of card contacts 42 maintains the motor 40 in operation until the last card passes the brush 20.

Whenever a card having a perforation in the 0 index position of the 44th coliimn is followed by an unrelated card having no perforation in the 9 index position the first card will be diverted to the 0 receiving station in the usual manner. The card immediately following will likewise be diverted to the 0 position since it also has a perforation in the 0 index position of the 44th column, providing it is not followed by its mate or related card.

When a card representing a drum shipped is followed by the related card representing the same drum returned the brush 62 will make contact with the contact 58 through the 9 per foration of the second card and establish a circuit as follows: from left side of line 52, brushes 51, contact 48, relay 66, thereby opening contacts 54, relay 67, brush 64, contact 58, brush 62, switch 65, now closed, to right side of line 55. Closure of relay contacts 68 by relay 67 establishes a yholding circuit for the relays 66, 67 and, through the opening of contacts 54, prevents the normal action of brush 20 and magnet 53 so that the first card will be conveyed to the Reject receiving station. The second card, not having a perforation in the 44th column will likewise be conveyed to the Reject receiving station. 'Ihe card following the second card will be diverted to the "0 or to the Reject receiving station, depending on whether it is a single or a paired card. In other words, a card passing under the brush 62 exercises a control over the card ahead of it. If it should happen that one of the original cards representing a drum shippedis lost or destroyed the corresponding card representing a drum returned will be diverted to the "Reject receiving station since no perforation appears in 120 the 44th column of4 such cards so it will be apparent that the cards accumulated in the 0 receiving station will represent all drums which have not been returned.

Near the end of each card cycle the circuit 125 through the brushes 51 will be broken' and the alternative circuits through relays 66, 67 or relay 53 and magnet 37 will be opened preparatory to the beginning of a new card cycle.

It is believed that the foregoing description 13g) will clearly indicate to those skilled in the art the manner in which the present invention is practically applied and the operation of the same, therefore a more detailed description is not considered necessary herein.

The hereindescribed invention has been shown as applied to a specific machine and in a specific type of business operation, however, it is not desired to limit the invention to the precise embodiment shown and described as it is capable of 3 modification and adaptation all within the scope of the claims that follow.

I claim:

1. In a sorting machine, a main sorting circuit including a main analyzing brush arranged to read data designations in the same column of successively presented cards, said sorting circuit normally tending to distribute cards according to the index-point value of the data designations 'M in the column read, an auxiliary sorting circuit W including an auxiliary brush adapted to read data designations in a different column oi said cards, and a device controlled by the auxiliary brush for disabling the main sorting circuit when both brushes read together unlike data designations in a pair of successively presented cards whereby to determine a distribution of said pair of cards different from the normal distribution.

2. In a sorting machine, a main sorting mechanism having a main analyzing device adapted to analyze data designations in one of a pair of successively presented cards, said sorting mechanism tending to normally distribute the cards according to the index-point value of the data designations read by the main analyzing device, auxiliary sorting mechanism including an auxiliary analyzing device adapted to read data designations in the other card of said pair different from those analyzed by the main analyzing device, and a device controlled by the auxiliary sorting mechanism for disabling the main'sorting mechanism when said auxiliary analyzing device reads a data designation different from one read by the main analyzing device whereby to determine a different distribution for a pair of cards having differing data designations.

3. In combination, analyzing means comprisng a main brush and an auxiliary brush, both said brushes being arranged to read together data designations occurring in different columns of a pair of successively .presented cards, sorting mechanism controlled by the main brush and normally tending to distibute the cards according to the ind'ug:`V point value of the data destrol the sorting circuit to sort out records according to the value of index-point perforations in one of the columns of the records, and means controlled by another of said organs for disabling the sorting circuit when any record sensed by the rst named organ is followed by a record having an index-point perforation differing in value from the one sensed by the rst named organ.

5. In combination, sorting mechanism including a sorting circuit for controlling the same, spaced card sensing brushes for sensing different columns of successively fed cards and jointly controlling said circuit, one of said brushes being normally effective to control the sorting circuit to sort out cards according to the value of index-point perforations in one of the columns of the cards, and auxiliary means controlled by another of said brushes for disabling the sorting circuit on the occurrence of successive cards having index-point perforations differing in value in the columns sensed by both of said brushes.

HENRY W. BRYCE. 

